episode_0040

Late at night.

Johann traveled for two days in a carriage, escorted by knights, and arrived at a village in the County of Ecarsi.

The atmosphere in the village was tense, perhaps because the news of the cave had spread widely. It might have been because it was about to rain on a dark night.

“Are you from the civil service?”

As the carriage pulled into the village entrance, the guard at the entrance asked politely.

“That’s right.”

The knight leading the way nodded. The guards moved immediately and pushed aside the barricade blocking the road.

“Please take care of me.”

The guard must have been very fond of this village, because his words were full of earnestness.

I entered the town with the knights of the civil servant. The atmosphere inside the town was also unusual. It must be because everything that was going on stopped when the den appeared.

John slowly looked around as he entered the village. The reservoir had dried up, the wells were dry, and the rice fields were bare and cracked, leaving only the bare ground exposed.

An old man sat at the entrance. Silently. Even his deeply wrinkled face had a dry air about it.

‘Something seems strange.’

John frowned, thinking that the sight was strange. It was strangely dry. Even the air that flowed was parched.

Rather than a living village, it was a landscape where life was slowly dying.

“Harsen Special Wizard, I’m not the only one who finds this strange, right?”

The first-class knight who was entrusted with escorting John asked. He also seemed to sense the strange scenery of this village.

“Yes. It seems certain that there is a cave.”

All caves share a common characteristic: the land is dry, life is decaying, and the air is stale.

A landscape where hunger has arrived.

The village I just entered was exactly like that.

“Arrived. This is the village chief’s house.”

John got out of the carriage. The chief’s house, visible on the hill, was not very large, but it was more well-furnished than the other houses.

As we walked up the hill, we came across a small figure. He was an old man with a bushy beard and impressive white hair.

“Hello. I am Haden, the village chief of Luden Village in the County of Ekarsi.”

The village chief, Haden, bowed deeply. He seemed to be in awe of these nobles and public officials of the empire.

“Where is the place where the den appeared?”

“John said. The village chief raised himself with difficulty and pointed in the direction with his hand.

“The distance is not that far. If you go straight out the northern gate of the village, you will come across a mountain path. Just by going there, you will feel that the energy is not ordinary.”

Yohan nodded, looking at the village chief who was speaking carefully.

“Check it out right now. Can you give me directions?”

“Yes, of course. How much?”

The village chief looked back and called someone’s name. A young man came out. Judging by the resemblance in his face, he seemed to be his son.

“This is my son, Hadu. He will show you the way.”

“My name is Hadoo. I am good at mountain paths.”

“Yeah.”

John nodded and turned his back. Hadu tilted his face for a moment with a dumbfounded expression, then realized that it meant for him to follow him and started walking forward hurriedly.

“What are you going to do with the carriage?”

The article asked.

“There’s a cave ahead, so we can’t take the carriage. Let’s leave it.”

John continued speaking, looking in the direction where the cave was.

“Do you know how to ride a horse?”

“Yes. I know how to ride it because I often go downtown.”

“That’s great. Then let’s go right away.”

* * *

As we climbed the mountain path north of the village, the ominous atmosphere deepened. We had to remain vigilant as demons might emerge.

“There it is.”

In the direction that Hadu pointed with his hand, black fog was gathering. Negative energy. It was exactly the same as the characteristics of an unmanaged cave.

“Hadu, you go down. We’ll handle it from here.”

“Yes.”

So he sent the village chief’s son away, and John moved on and spoke to the knight.

“I guess it’ll take some time.”

The knight nodded with an uneasy expression, as if in agreement.

“That’s right. If it’s like that, there’s a chance that a flood will occur. We can’t just leave it alone.”

If we just check and go back, there will be a flood and this town will be in ruins. If that happens, it will be difficult to handle the work that needs to be done later.

“Let’s go in further.”

John and his knights entered the mountain path covered in pitch-black fog. A feeling of negativity crawled up the back of his neck.

As John and the knights moved along the mountain path, they soon discovered the demons hiding like shadows.

Sharp claws scraped against the rock, making an eerie sound, and green eyes glowed in the darkness.

“As expected. There’s a devil.”

Slung. The knights dismounted and carefully drew their swords and untied their bodies. The armor moved and made a clanking sound.

“Kreuk?”

The demons who heard the sound all looked this way. Johan also slowly increased his magical power.

“Harsen Special Wizard, save your magic power. We’ll handle this among ourselves.”

Due to John’s nature, there was no need to conserve his magic power, but here he decided to listen to the knight’s words. There was no need to use magic to attract the attention of the demons.

“Kiaaak!”

“Maintain large size!”

As the demons closed in, the knights maintained their formation and swung their swords. Blades made of mana surged through the pitch-black fog.

Scratch!

The demons’ necks were gently split open. The mana blades, shining in various colors, moved without stopping.

Although there were quite a lot of them, there was no way that the lower-level demons could do anything against five first-level knights.

“All sorted out.”

“Let’s get a little closer.”

The knights and John walked through the pitch-black fog and entered the interior where the air of negativity was suffocating.

“This is… … .”

“As expected.”

“This is not normal.”

There was a crack through which black fog spread out. The inside was filled with darkness. I could not see anything with my eyes.

But even if I couldn’t see it, I could feel it. A presence. Something was stirring inside.

“Flooding is about to occur.”

“We are not at a level where we can do anything among ourselves.”

“It would be a good idea to evacuate the villagers.”

The knights gave their opinions. It was a good decision. The size of the crack in the cave was unusual.

I’m sorry to Count Ekarsi, but I’m going to have to designate some parts of the county as a no-entry zone.

“Then let’s go.”

As John got back on his horse, his sense of perception sensed something for a moment. He instinctively activated his spirit energies to the max.

Stand tall!

The sharpened knife stopped before John’s eyes.

But they weren’t knights.

“Kwak!”

“What, what is it!”

“Aaak… !”

Their screams could be heard as they were unable to avoid the daggers due to the pitch-black fog.

“Do, it’s poison!”

“Aaah!! My arm…!”

“I can’t feel my legs…!”

The knights’ bodies became stiff and they were instantly unable to fight. This was because their daggers were contaminated with an unknown poison.

“A surprise attack!”

John quickly turned his head. There was nothing to see in the pitch-black fog.

“If you can move, shout!”

I raised my voice in the direction of the knights, but there was no sound. It had not even been a minute, but it must have been quite severe.

‘I knew this would happen, but I never thought it would come while I was inspecting the cave.’

Who ordered such a reckless act? Both Cassis and Fedelian were extraordinary idiots and fools, so it wouldn’t have been strange if anyone had done it.

Are they shadows? Or are they hyenas? Judging by the way they fight, they are not the Black Knights.

“… … .”

John could quickly tell that his opponents were hyenas, because the knife they were using was of a familiar shape.

“Hyenas? Come out.”

John looked around sharply, waiting for the hyenas. The air was heavy with murderous intent. These were not just any hyenas.

“You’re quick-witted. How did you know it was us?”

The hyenas emerged from the darkness and slowly approached while activating their mana blades. There were ten of them in total.

“There were other guys who used knives like this.”

John deliberately led the conversation and slowly raised his magic power. This was the front of the cave. Escape was the priority.

The hyena in the lead laughed bitterly.

“If you’re thinking of running away, give up. It’s safe to say that it’s impossible.”

The bastard aimed with the tip of his sword out. As he said, the possibility of John escaping from here was close to zero.

Not only was the field of vision limited because it was in front of the cave, but the opponents’ realms were all level 1 or higher.

It was either annihilation or death. It was one of the two.

‘I wish I could capture it, but that’s impossible.’

While they are hyenas who are skilled at running away, their level cannot be ignored. Even if Yohan is a top-class magician, there is nothing that can be done about the impossible.

“Start!”

Before the hyena could finish speaking, the daggers flew. Dozens of blades rushed towards Yohan.

Yeongryujin’s mana stretched out like a thread. The pouring daggers stopped in midair and were broken by their roots. However, there was no time to relax.

This was because the hyenas’ mana blades swarmed in straight away. Johan kicked the ground with his face coldly down.

Shukak!

As we slipped through the gap, three mana blades slashed through the air. The next attack came soon after. This time, it was mana blades. Johan gritted his teeth and twisted his waist.

Swish!

The blade, rushing in at incredible speed, cut down John’s immediate vicinity.

A dagger is flying. Don’t worry about it. Stand tall! As expected, the dagger doesn’t pierce through Yeongryujin. Yohan uses the magical power-enhancing Mu-gol to enhance his physical abilities.

As we quickly gained distance, the hyenas widened their eyes.

“A wizard with such physical abilities?”

“Focus! He’s a top-class wizard!”

But the confusion was short-lived. The hyenas quickly came to their senses and formed their formation again.

“Cover!”

As if they didn’t want to give John time to use his magic, they rushed forward, stepping on the ground. The hyenas shot out like arrows.

Swords pouring down without fail from a close distance. They are all wrapped around the Mana Blade. If there were fewer of them, they could have been blocked, but it was impossible to catch all ten curved swords of the Yeongryujin’s thread.

He pours out all his magical power. The spirit sphere has become solid. The mana blade approaches, cutting the thread that surrounds Yohan. However, he has bought enough time.

“Distortion area.”

John moved his hand. The sphere of magical power spinning violently in his arms vibrated. He controlled it. The distortion sphere moved in the direction of his arm’s movement, sucking in the hyenas nearby.

Quagwagwa-!

“Kuaaak… !”

“Ah, aaaah!!”

The magical power of the violently rotating distortion sphere swept across the ground, tearing the hyenas apart. It left no traces except for red blood.

“Special wizard! Don’t let your guard down!”

In an instant, two hyenas were killed, and they hid themselves in the pitch-black fog. They had just learned that John could not be killed by normal means.

“Yohan said, rolling his gaze and examining the pitch-black fog.

“I guess Cassis is really angry?”

There was no answer, but John did not stop talking.

“The stupid kid can’t tell the difference between public and private and is acting like a fool.”

His voice was filled with irritation. And it was understandable. He had sent hyenas when he was on an important mission like scouting a den.

“It’s a sin to follow a stupid master. Because of the oath, interrogation won’t work, so I’ll kill you all.”

John brought his magical power to its limit. A pitch-black sphere appeared at the tip of his finger. The bursting point. The magical power that spun around violently and created a gust of wind swept through the surrounding area.

At that time.

“Kiaaak!”

“Krrr!”

“Kkiyaaak!”

Something began to pour out of the cracks in the cave with a strange scream. A long wave of monsters filled with hostility and malice followed.

Demons that want to chew on your body and drink your blood.

It was a flood.